The Perception of Illusory Contours

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introductory and Historical Material

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Top-Down and Bottom-Up: The Illusory Contour as a Microcosm of Issues in Perception

      • Glenn E. Meyer, Susan Petry

      Pages 3-20

   3. Contributions to the Analysis of Visual Perception—First Paper: Some Observations on the Combination of Visual Impressions into Units

      • F. Schumann

      Pages 21-34

   4. Modifications of the Brightness Phenomenon of L. Hermann

      • Walter Ehrenstein

      Pages 35-39

   5. Quasi-Perceptual Margins in Homogeneously Stimulated Fields

      • Gaetano Kanizsa

      Pages 40-49

3. Theoretical Analyses

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 51-51

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   2. Cues for Edge and the Origin of Illusory Contours: An Alternative Approach

      • Ross H. Day

      Pages 53-61

   3. A Problem-Solving Approach to Illusory Contours

      • Irvin Rock

      Pages 62-70

   4. Anomalous Figures and the Tendency to Continuation

      • Gian Franco Minguzzi

      Pages 71-75

   5. Illusory Figures and Pictorial Objects

      • Theodore E. Parks

      Pages 76-80

   6. Illusory Contours and Occluding Surfaces

      • Richard L. Gregory

      Pages 81-89

4. Physiologically Based Analyses and Models

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91

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   2. Visual Perception of Surfaces: A Biological Theory

      • V. S. Ramachandran

      Pages 93-108

   3. The Existence of Interpolated Illusory Contours Depends on Contrast and Spatial Separation

      • Robert Shapley, James Gordon

      Pages 109-115

   4. The Role of Illusory Contours in Visual Segmentation

      • Stephen Grossberg, Ennio Mingolla

      Pages 116-125

   5. The Relationship Between Spatial Filtering and Subjective Contours

      • Arthur P. Ginsburg

      Pages 126-130

   6. A Dynamic Model of Anomalous Figures

      • Marco Sambin

      Pages 131-142

   7. The Resonance Theory of Kinetic Shape Perception and the Motion-Induced Contour

      • Victor Klymenko, Naomi Weisstein

      Pages 143-148

5. Brightness and Spatial Factors

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 149-149

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The Perception of Illusory Contours is a complete and comprehensive volume on one of the most important phenomena in modern perception research. An illusory contour is a demonstration in which people perceive edges, surfaces, objects and colors that have no physical reality. The international group of distinguished researchers which comprise the contributors to the volume present new theoretical interpretations and data in addition to reviewing the extensive literature on this topic. The volume begins with an introduction to the research on and theories behind illusory contours and their applications to other areas of perception, cognitive science and art. The collection also features English language translations of the seminal papers by Schumann, Ehrenstein, and Kanizsa, the scientists who originally discovered and investigated the phenomenon. The Perception of Illusory Contours contains the most comprehensive set of illusory contour figures ever assembled. The volume is a most significant reference work in an area of research at the critical intersection of perception, cognitive science, visual neurophysiology, and artificial intelligence.

• Action
• Perception
• artificial intelligence
• cognitive science
• intelligence
• language
• neurophysiology
• physiology
• transparency

• Department of Psychology, Adelphi University, Garden City, USA

  Susan Petry

• Department of Psychology, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, USA

  Glenn E. Meyer

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